Arduino is an open-source electronics platform that combines both open source software and hardware to let people make interactive projects with ease. You can get Arduino-compatible single board computers and use them to make something useful.
In addition to the hardware, you will also need to know the Arduino language to use the Arduino IDE to successfully create something.
You can code using the web editor or use the Arduino IDE offline. Nevertheless, you can always refer to the official resources available to learn about Arduino.
Considering that you know the essentials, I will be mentioning some of the best (or interesting) Arduino projects. You can try to make them for yourself or modify them to come up with something of your own.
Interesting Arduino project ideas for beginners, experts, everyone
The following projects need a variety of additional hardware – so make sure to check out the official link to the projects (originally featured on the official Arduino Project Hub) to learn more about them.
Also, it is worth noting that they aren’t particularly in any ranking order – so feel free to try what sounds best to you.
1. LED Controller
Looking for simple Arduino projects? Here’s one for you.
One of the easiest projects that let you control LED lights. Yes, you do not have to opt for expensive LED products just to decorate your room (or for any other use-case), you can simply make an LED controller and customize it to use it however you want.
It requires using the Arduino UNO board and a couple more things (which also includes an Android phone). You can learn more about it in the link to the project below.
2. Hot Glue LED Matrix Lamp
Another Arduino LED project for you. Since we are talking about using LEDs to decorate, you can also make an LED lamp that looks beautiful.
For this, you might want to make sure that you have a 3D printer. Next, you need an LED strip and Arduino Nano R3 as the primary materials.
Once you’ve printed the case and assembled the lamp section, all you need to do is to add the glue sticks and figure out the wiring. It does sound very simple to mention – you can learn more about it on the official Arduino project feature site.
3. Arduino Mega Chess
Want to have a personal digital chessboard? Why not?
You’ll need a TFT LCD touch screen display and an Arduino Mega 2560 board as the primary materials. If you have a 3D printer, you can create a pretty case for it and make changes accordingly.
Take a look at the original project for inspiration.
4. Enough Already: Mute My TV
A very interesting project. I wouldn’t argue the usefulness of it – but if you’re annoyed by certain celebrities (or personalities) on TV, you can simply mute their voice whenever they’re about to speak something on TV.
Technically, it was tested with the old tech back then (when you didn’t really stream anything). You can watch the video above to get an idea and try to recreate it or simply head to the link to read more about it.
5. Robot Arm with Controller
If you want to do something with the help of your robot and still have manual control over it, the robot arm with a controller is one of the most useful Arduino projects. It uses the Arduino UNO board if you’re wondering.
You will have a robot arm -for which you can make a case using the 3D printer to enhance its usage and you can use it for a variety of use-cases. For instance, to clean the carbage using the robot arm or anything similar where you don’t want to directly intervene.
6. Make Musical Instrument Using Arduino
I’ve seen a variety of musical instruments made using Arduino. You can explore the Internet if you want something different than this.
You would need a Pi supply flick charge and an Arduino UNO to make it happen. It is indeed a cool Arduino project where you get to simply tap and your hand waves will be converted to music. Also, it isn’t tough to make this – so you should have a lot of fun making this.
7. Pet Trainer: The MuttMentor
An Arduino-based device that assists you to help train your pet – sounds exciting!
For this, they’re using the Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense while utilizing TensorFlow to train a small neural network for all the common actions that your pet does. Accordingly, the buzzer will offer a reinforcing notification when your pet obeys your command.
This can have wide applications when tweaked as per your requirements. Check out the details below.
8. Basic Earthquake Detector
Normally, you depend on the government officials to announce/inform about the earthquake stats (or the warning for it).
But with Arduino boards, you can simply build a basic earthquake detector and have transparent results for yourself without depending on the authorities. Click on the button below to know about the relevant details to help make it.
9. Security Access Using RFID Reader
As the project describes – “RFID tagging is an ID system that uses small radio frequency identification “.
So, in this project, you will be making an RFID reader using Arduino while pairing it with an Adafruit NFC card for security access. Check out the full details using the button below and let me know how it works for you.
10. Smoke Detection using MQ-2 Gas Sensor
This could be potentially one of the best Arduino projects out there. You don’t need to spend a lot of money to equip smoke detectors for your home, you can manage with a DIY solution to some extent.
Of course, unless you want a complex failsafe set up along with your smoke detector, a basic inexpensive solution should do the trick. In either case, you can also find other applications for the smoke detector.
11. Arduino Based Amazon Echo using 1Sheeld
In case you didn’t know 1Sheeld basically replaces the need for an add-on Arduino board. You just need a smartphone and add Arduino shields to it so that you can do a lot of things with it.
Using 5 such shields, the original creator of this project made himself a DIY Amazon Echo. You can find all the relevant details, schematics, and code to make it happen.
12. Audio Spectrum Visualizer
Just want to make something cool? Well, here’s an idea for an audio spectrum visualizer.
For this, you will need an Arduino Nano R3 and an LED display as primary materials to get started with. You can tweak the display as required. You can connect it with your headphone output or simply a line-out amplifier.
Easily one of the cheapest Arduino projects that you can try for fun.
13. Motion Following Motorized Camera
Up for a challenge? If you are – this will be one of the coolest Arduino Projects in our list.
Basically, this is meant to replace your home security camera which is limited to an angle of video recording. You can turn the same camera into a motorized camera that follows the motion.
So, whenever it detects a movement, it will change its angle to try to follow the object. You can read more about it to find out how to make it.
14. Water Quality Monitoring System
If you’re concerned about your health in connection to the water you drink, you can try making this.
It requires an Arduino UNO and the water quality sensors as the primary materials. To be honest, a useful Arduino project to go for. You can find everything you need to make this in the link below.
15. Punch Activated Arm Flamethrower
I would be very cautious about this – but seriously, one of the best (and coolest) Arduino projects I’ve ever come across.
Of course, this counts as a fun project to try out to see what bigger projects you can pull off using Arduino and here it is. In the project, he originally used the SparkFun Arduino Pro Mini 328 along with an accelerometer as the primary materials.
16. Polar Drawing Machine
This isn’t any ordinary plotter machine that you might’ve seen people creating using Arduino boards.
With this, you can draw some cool vector graphics images or bitmap. It might sound like bit of overkill but then it could also be fun to do something like this.
This could be a tricky project, so you can refer to the details on the link to go through it thoroughly.
17. Home Automation
Technically, this is just a broad project idea because you can utilize the Arduino board to automate almost anything you want at your home.
Just like I mentioned, you can go for a security access device, maybe create something that automatically waters the plants or simply make an alarm system.
Countless possibilities of what you can do to automate things at your home. For reference, I’ve linked to an interesting home automation project below.
Bonus: Robot Cat (OpenCat)
A programmable robotic cat for AI-enhanced services and STEM education. In this project, both Arduino and Raspberry Pi boards have been utilized.
You can also look at the Raspberry Pi alternatives if you want. This project needs a lot of work, so you would want to invest a good amount of time to make it work.
Wrapping Up
With the help of Arduino boards (coupled with other sensors and materials), you can do a lot of projects with ease. Some of the projects that I’ve listed above are suitable for beginners and some are not. Feel free to take your time to analyze what you need and the cost of the project before proceeding.
Did I miss listing an interesting Arduino project that deserves the mention here? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
